The games this weekend covered 3 days with a Saturday game thrown in as curtain raiser to a Queensland Cup game (and the 2 teams involved did the competition proud incidentally putting on a high standard encounter for the good size crowd). Easts picked up the 2 points for the bye.
The Friday night game saw the "Grand Final" rematch with Arana travelling to Redlands with both teams primed for a good game - and what a game it was. It was fast and furious, and except for a 5 minute period at the start of the 2nd half when both sides lost the ball 3 times, relatively mistake free. In fact the first 13 sets of the match were completed which is a fine effort in any level of football. Unfortunately Arana's recent history of picking up injuries at Pinklands continued, with both Luke and Brent forced off early in the first half, with both unable to take any further part in the game. One of the highlights of the night however was the performance of Dean, replacing Luke in the unfamiliar position of fullback, who defused a couple of bombs brilliantly as well as pulling off some great tackles. It was a night for the "benchman" with Josh also performing brilliantly off the bench pulling off 17 tackles. Redlands got away to a fast start scoring twice in the first 13 minutes, one from a well-placed bomb and the other from dummy-half to take a 10 nil lead. Brendan got Arana back in the game with a typical burst through a retreating defence with the conversion seeing the deficit reduced to 4 points at the break. After the attack of dropsy abated, Redlands opened the scoring in the second half from another bomb to skip away to an 8 point lead, but a typical bullocking try from Alex T after some smart bursts from Mitchell and Alex F, who both shone in attack had Arana back within reach. Two tries in 4 minutes in the middle of the half by the Parakeets - one from a well executed inside pass, and another from a chip kick from Vaughan who had a great game - saw the home side extend their lead to 12 points. No doubt they expected a fight back from the visitors and they weren't disappointed with a fine try from Rodger backing up a break from Jozey saw the margon narrowed to 6 points with 6 minutes remaining. Arana through everything at the Redlands defence and another break down the left followed by a quick interchange of passing saw Rodger crash over in the corner. The conversion attempt from Alex T, who had earlier kicked one from the other sideline just swung wide, and Redlands held out the last to record a 24-22 win in another great encounter between these two teams, virtually guaranteeing Redlands a place in the Chairman's Trophy final. Nash had another outstanding game making 24 tackles (including 15 in the first half) and 3 line breaks whilst Jozey with 17 tackles and 15 hit-ups never stopped trying. All the "big guns" fired for Redlands with Nathan, Matt S, Jay and Brian prominent. Vaughan was very dangerous in attack and Dominic played well at fullback. It really is a pleasure to watch these two teams play.
Stats:
Penalties: Arana 6-3
Completion Rates: Arana 17/23 Redlands 19/27
By the minute:
7th min: Redlands try; Redlands 4-0
13th min: Redlands try/conv; Redlands 10-0
23rd min: Brendan try/Alex T conv; Redlands 10-6 (ht)
35th min: Redlands try; Redlands 14-6
39th min: Alex T try/conv; Redlands 14-12
44th min: Redlands try/conv; Redlands 20-12
48th min: Redlands try; Redlands 24-12
53rd min: Rodger try/Alex T conv; Redlands 24-18
58th min: Rodger try; Redlands 24-22 (ft)
Redcliffe hosted Norths as the curtain-raiser on Saturday at Dolphin Oval and as mentioned above put on an entertaining match. Redcliffe started the better scoring 2 tries in the first 10 minutes (one after a spectacular leap from Jed to retrieve a bomb) to lead the visitors 10-0. Norths steadied however and were eventually rewarded with a try just before the break to trail by only 4 points, 10-6. Redcliffe would have been fairly comfortable however as they had run into the strong breeze in the first stanza. The seond half began much the same as the first with Redcliffe extending their lead with 2 tries before Norths again struck back to trail 20-10 with 10 to go. Another Dolphin score sealed the win however although Norths did score a consolation try to bring the final margin to the home side back to 8 points 24-16.
In the first Sunday game, not too many people would have given Souths much chance against the unbeaten Logan Brothers side, however the Magpies were to prove they are going to be a challenge for any side on their home ground with an impressive 36-26 win. Souths, no doubt smarting from their last-start hammering by Arana, stormed out of the blocks putting on two converted tries in the first 5 minutes, and from that point were never headed, despite Logan Brothers getting back within 2 points at one stage. Souths led 20-14 at half-time having run into the breeze which would have given them a lot of confidence, but they still had to put in a good second half to deny the Brethren the chance to lock up a Chairman's Trophy spot 36-26.
The final Sunday game saw Holy Spirit host a once-again depleted Centenary side. Unfortunately this match was to be marred by a number of sin-binnings (7 unofficially) due to some zealous officiating, although the match had its moments of good attacking flair. Holy Spirit will probably be a bit disappointed at not picking up the 2 points as they led at half-time and well into the second half, before the Panthers came back to snatch a 28-28 draw. The result sees Holy Spirit move off the bottom of the table, and must cause concern for Centenary whose form has been poor this year having gone into the season with high hopes of improving on their 3rd place in 2002, with this result dropping them to 7th position.
The weekend's results sees Redlands now the only unbeaten side on 14 points with Logan Bros in clear second on 12 points. Souths have joined Arana 10 points, with Redcliffe in 5th place on 8. Easts on 6, Centenary 5, Holy Spirit 3 and Norths 2 fill the bottom 4 places.
A couple of upset results this weekend have breathed a bit more life into the competition - looking forward to the next few weeks!!
Brad T
4/5/2003
